The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547338
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2026 ■ 33 BY NOAH FLEISCHMAN hortly after bypassing an opening statement in his first taste of the a n n u a l AC C T i p o f f event inside the large second-floor ballroom of the Hilton Charlotte Uptown, NC State head coach Justin Gainey was quick to bring up his background with the Wolfpack. It's the program where he recorded 344 assists as a point guard, while he turned in 103 starts and 3,835 total minutes during his decorated playing career under Herb Sendek from 1996-2000. It's also the place he kicked off his path in coaching, serving as an administrative coordinator for two years and director of basketball operations for one before departing. Now, 26 years after he last donned a red-and-white NC State uniform, Gainey still feels a special connection to the very team he's been tasked with leading as a first-time head coach. With his head coaching debut against Campbell Nov. 2 at Lenovo Center, the very building he helped open in 1999, fast approaching, he was oozing confidence in his new role. "I am NC State," Gainey said from the illuminated stage in front of more than two dozen media members sitting at five rows of tables in front of him. "There's not anybody in this country that knows NC State inside and out the way that I do." Gainey is in a unique position. He's just the fourth former Wolfpack player to take over among the program's 22 head coaches since its inception in 1910, but unlike Norm Sloan, Les Robinson and Sid- ney Lowe, this will be Gainey's first expe- rience ever leading a basketball program. The 49-year-old hit the ground run- ning in building his first roster in Raleigh, headlined by retaining star three-point shooter Paul McNeil Jr., in addition to vet- eran big man Ven-Allen Lubin and sopho- more forward Zymicah "Mikey" Wilkins. When it came to the rest of the ros- ter, Gainey was intentional about the 11 other players he signed via the trans- fer portal, international or high school ranks. They had to fit the mold of what it means to don the storied program's uniform, and he would know after serv- ing as the go-to ball-handler for Send- ek's first four teams in Raleigh. "All the guys have characteristics that are important to me and that I embod- ied as not only a player, but as a coach," Gainey said. "All of these guys have something in them that I could relate to. That's what made the recruitment of each guy special." Backcourt McNeil was the centerpiece of NC State's roster build after Gainey and his staff were able to reel the junior back in from a three-week stint in the transfer portal. He's coming off a career-best 13.8 points on a 43.3 percent shooting S NEW-LOOK NEW-LOOK PACK PACK Revamped NC State Begins The Justin Gainey Era " I am NC State. There's not anybody in this country that knows NC State inside and out the way that I do." Gainey